struggling with DDP or OOP?

[magicman]

We are heading to Disney during spring break (4/1 - 4/8) and we are trying to decide if the DDP is for us. We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 11 year old adult, and a 9 year old child) and it would cost a $128 per day. Sounds like a good deal, however our 11 year old would rather eat chicken nuggets everyday instead of something off the adult menu. I think $11 a day for a child is a great price but I have a hard time paying $39 for an 11 year old.

The other thing I am struggling with is having to do a table service meal everyday. Since we will be at Disney at one of the busiest times of the year, will sitting down to a table service meal everyday take away too much time during the day that we will not be able to do everything at the parks?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Candy636]

We were in a similar situation in 2005. We had our grandchildren 10 and 9 with us. Two nights the 10 year old ordered steak and the 9 year old ordered a child's chicken dinner and they switched. The 9 year old was happy to have other options than the children's menu. We were there at Thanksgiving and it was wonderful to get away from the crowds and go to some of the resort restaurants.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We just did the DDP with an 11 year old and an 8 year old. Our 11 year old is extememly picky and ordered off the kid's menu most of the time. But, our table service meals were usually over $100. If you add that to the cost of the counter service meals and snacks, it would have cost much more if we'd payed for all of those meals OOP.

On the other hand, we would never have eaten the way we did if we were paying for everything OOP. We might have done a few table service places, but no where near as many as we did. We also never would have ordered 3 courses for every meal.

While we enjoyed going to the various restaurants, we certainly didn't need to eat as much as we did! Yes, it does take a fair amount of time away from your park time, but it also gives you a nice break.

You really have to weigh all of the pros and cons and decide if the DDP is for you. We are glad we did it on this trip. But, we probably won't do it again. We'll just pay OOP for our very favorite places and do counter service and snacks the rest of the time.

 

[mylightshines]

We are heading to Disney during spring break (4/1 - 4/8) and we are trying to decide if the DDP is for us. We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 11 year old adult, and a 9 year old child) and it would cost a $128 per day. Sounds like a good deal, however our 11 year old would rather eat chicken nuggets everyday instead of something off the adult menu. I think $11 a day for a child is a great price but I have a hard time paying $39 for an 11 year old.

The other thing I am struggling with is having to do a table service meal everyday. Since we will be at Disney at one of the busiest times of the year, will sitting down to a table service meal everyday take away too much time during the day that we will not be able to do everything at the parks?

Any help would be appreciated.

You don't HAVE to do a table service every day. If you are staying 7 nights, you each get 7 table service meals. You can have two or three in one day if you choose. We always do character meals, which to me is part of the Disney experience. I really think you'll enjoy it and it will just add to your disney experience. You will definitely need a break away from the rides (and heat). For 7 nights, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the parks and eat!!

Eat a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's or Ohana's some mornings before going to MK or Epcot. Then take the monorail to the park. Or plan a late lunch as your sit-down. You'll definitely need a break by then.

Your 11 year old can always order off of the kids menu (unless it's a buffet) and then you pay for it OOP. Then you can save that credit for another meal. If you do one of the dinner shows, it's two points.

Economically, I think the DDP is a good deal:

1 day DDP = $128.00

Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern = $97.00 (plus tax and gratuity)

Plus, you get a counter meal (which Hamburger meals are usually $8-10 pp) and a snack.

The DDP includes gratuity and tax.

My number one reason for liking the DDP, you don't have to worry about money. If my DD wanted to try something new, I didn't think "you'll never eat a $30 steak." If she didn't eat everything, I didn't worry about. Plus, when the bill came, I didn't have to worry about how much of today's budget that was.

We've went to Disney in June '05 and June '06. '05 was no dining plan, mostly hamburgers, junk food. '06 was sit-down meals, with appetizer and dessert. I added up my receipts from '05 and we spent the same amount of money. I can honestly tell you that '06 was a much more enjoyable trip.

 

[Katy Belle]

It really is such a personal thing...but here is my experience.
We've been to WDW twice. The first time we did not have DDP. We booked several ADRs and canceled some at the last minute because we couldn't stand to lose park time. The second time, last month, I booked DDP. I booked all TS in the parks,except Chef Mickey, to cut down on lost park time.

Our boys are 6,9,11. All pretty adventursome eaters. The 11 yr old was happy with adult choices most of the time. The 9yr old was happy with kid choices on TS and on CS we usually got him adult choices, no flames...they allowed it.

All that being said...I wouldn't do it again. It still took lots of touring time. We had some extra long meals due to bad service, so that made a difference, but I would have liked more flexibility and more time in the parks. It was fun to try appetizers and desserts. My oldest DS is still asking me, "Mom, can I use a snack credit?" when we are out and need a snack But all in all, I go to WDW for the parks, not so much the food. We would have been fine with mostly counter service and probably 3 TS, we had 6.

Good luck in making your decision.
Katy

 

[Muhlenberg]

The DDP is still a good deal even if for ALL your TS meals you do a character/buffet. It's still cheaper than OOP, the kids will like the characters, it's a nice break, and it doesn't take as much time as an order-from-a-menu kind of place. And picky eaters can choose what they want from the vast array of food.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

I think the DDP is a good deal IF you utilize all your TS credits - at least it would be for my family. BUT my concerns are the same as previous posters - lack of flexibility and taking time away from the parks or the pool. If you figure each TS is 1 1/2 to 2 hours probably more like 2 w/the waiting included thats alot of time taken away. But yet - what a convience of not having to carry cash around for meals. We're having the same dilemma as well - to do DDP or not.

 

[pixieprincessmom]

We book DDP last year and loved it, but now I run into the same problem as you. DD turned 10, and I don't think she can eat $38 in nuggets and macaroni in a day. She is finally starting to try new things, but I don't want to risk it. Also, the parks were not busy last year, this year we are going for presidents week. I don't think we will book DDP. Our D@ will be 10 next Jan. This might be the end of DDP for us for a while.

 

[The Sweetness]

If I wasnt wanting to do a TS and a CS daily, I wouldnt do the DDP

 

[Desnik]

I was driving myself crazy with the whole DDP thing! Finally we are going to give it a try in April. I'm not worried about it taking away from park touring because we go often and dining is a part of the whole Disney experience too! We usually do a TS everyday anyway so with my calculations it should save us about $100 and we will have triple the amount of food we normally would've had! I think a good idea would be to let your 11 and 9yo switch meals if one wants the nuggets and the other is more willing to try something different. I would just order the kids meal and an adult meal and let them eat from both. I'm sure they will almost always find stuff they both will like.

 

[ILVPOOH]

Now that my children will be 10 the next time we go, I probably wouldn't do the DDP (unless it was FREE). We would probably do 1 TS breakfast and 1 TS dinner and then the rest at the food courts or counter service. We found that having a TS every night really took a lot of time. We were always on a schedule running to get to dinner. I would look at the menus and figure out what you think you would eat each day. If this adds up to much lower than the DDP then you probably shouldn't get DDP. If it is close, then get the DDP.

 

[theblondebee]

I know that sounds like a lot, but even 2 quick service meals a day will probabally be almost that much. Unless you are planning to take groceries and do breakfast and snacks that way, it will be worth it in the long run.
It was really nice to be able to take a break from all the running around and just sit down for 1 to 1 and a half hours for a nice meal and not worry about the cost. All 3 of our kids are teenagers so the meals would have been much more expensive for us without the DDP.

There were a couple of times that DD 19 and DS 13 ordered from the kids menu instesad of the adult but I wasn't worried about getting my monies worth because I knew that we were saving a bundle.

 

[magicman]

Thanks for everyone's help!!! We decided to go with the DDP this trip. We sat down and mapped out our whole trip last night and said if we can get the ADRs we wanted, we would do the DDP. Well, I booked 6 of the 7 TS meals, Liberty Tree, Polynesian dinner show, 50's Prime Time Cafe, 1900 Park Fare for Breakfast, & Chef Micky's. We haven't decided on our 7th TS yet, but it will be either Rose & Crown or Le Cellier since we will be at Epcot that day. Anyway, I figured this would give us a chance to try some new places for dinner. I will keep track of all of our meals and let everyone know how we made out.

Now I am scared that we have an itinerary for everyday as we usually are just go with the flow kind of people. I think this trip is going to give me an ulcer if I have to plan anything else!!!!

Thanks again

 

[abcboys]

I am totally struggling with this same delimma. Ours would be $100/per day and I'm sure we'd get our money's worth but not sure if I want to waste time in sit-down restaurants everyday and worry about making dinner on time. One day I will think yeah lets have it and the other day think nah, I don't want to do sit down dinner everyday. Our boys will be 9,6,2 when we go (okay so its a whole nother year away but I'm planning early). There's a lot of restaurants I'd like to try but who knows if we'll feel like eating at that certan time on a certain day. I don't want to base my vacation around eating times.

If we decide not to do it I will probably plan a sit down for every other day and have some groceries in the room to save money. Decision, decisions. I think my head is going to blow up!!

 

[Sammie]

If you enjoy or even want to try a TS every day, then the DDP can be a good savings. That said, there is no way around the fact that it is time consuming to be a certain restuarant at a certain, even if you plan meals around what park you will be in.

 

[thunderbird1]

Now I am scared that we have an itinerary for everyday as we usually are just go with the flow kind of people. I think this trip is going to give me an ulcer if I have to plan anything else!!!!

I think it helps if you try not to think of your ADR's as being set in stone, but rather, as backup plans. If you decide on the spur of the moment to eat somewhere else, or you're having too much fun to stop for dinner, it's really easy to call and cancel your ADR. We try to make a couple more reservations than we have credits (never for the same meal--just double up and have lunch and dinner ADR's on a couple of days); that way, we don't feel bad (or lose credits) if we have to cancel one or two. (We figure if we end up running out of credits we'll just pay OOP after that.) You can also change things around once you get down there, availability permitting.

 

[ribbot]

Same dilemma here. We are planning an Aug 07 trip and I'm trying to figure out whether to get the DDP or not. There's just DH, DS (7) and myself. We visited Disney 2 years ago and the crazy organized nut that I am, I kept all of my receipts from when we went. I totaled them up and we spent $565 OOP for 9 days. I do realize prices have gone up now too, but probably not $100 worth. We did Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace, San Angel Inn, Whispering Canyon Cafe, 50's Primetime and Rainforest Cafe, plus counter services at several other places. I feel as though we had a good variety of places and foods that we liked.

We also have a Disney Visa and used our 450 dollars from it for the food a couple years ago, and should have that much again by this August. So I don't see a plus with DDP for that part of it so far.

I also have a weight watcher "fear" of going and feeling obligated to eat all of that good food. I normally wouldn't order dessert, but if I knew it was included, I KNOW I'd be ordering it. So this part I also see as a negative. We do like to try new places, but who wants to stuff themselves in 100 degree heat in August?

I love trying to get the most for my money and I just feel that the DDP would overpower the whole vacation. Yes, it's great to have good food while away, but to have it become such a priority and feel like you're getting your moneys worth seems a little too much hassle for me.

Well, I guess I just talked my fears out----looks like it's more negative than positives for us. Maybe next time we'll try it or who knows, maybe if Free Dining comes out that would be a great chance to see if it's worth it for us.

 

[mattoxtr]

We were there in March of 06 and used the DDP. Our 14 yr is very picky as well. We had no trouble finding places or items for her to eat. The DDP is the only way to go for us. We could not afford to go if we did not use it. We are going back in Dec of 07 and we are using the DDP again.